The Girl I See
by AnimeAllDay365
Summary: Nani had always felt different but desired an ordinary life. Her dream begins to shatter as she is thrusted into the public eye. Every move she makes is judged by the public. Fate transports her to the Village Hidden in the Leaves where she meets a powerful shinobi. Time spent with him is making it increasingly harder for her to find the motivation to leave, but she knows she must.
1. Chapter 1

( **Along with my OC characters, Katara, Tenzin, Naruto, Kakashi etc. are included. Set in the southern watertribe after Aang passes away)**

Chapter 1

Ever since I could remember I knew I was different. At first I was singled out because of my white hair. Before our apprenticeships started my sister and I had free time to play with the neighborhood kids. However, whenever I tried to join in I was snubbed by the other girls. My existence would usually be blatantly ignored, and if they recognized me I would be called clever names such as "freak" or "ugly" as they walked away. My older sister, Aika, took pity on me and let me hang out with her and her close friends, Bo and Kenji.

Aika and Kenji were both babysat by Kenji's grandmother and have been inseparable since they could talk. Most people questioned the authenticity of the friendship between the unlikely pairing, but I thought they complimented each other well. My sister was the type of girl that liked to show up at least ten minutes early while Kenji was the type of guy that thought rules were only a suggestion. More often than not, Aika seemed to always to come his rescue in some way. For instance, it was a miracle if Kenji ever brought his lunch to school but Aika was always more than willing to share. Although their relationship seemed one sided on the surface, I thought Aika needed Kenji just as much as he needed her.

We found out later that while my mom was pregnant with me, our dad had left our family. Her family had passed away by the time I was born and our mom was left to take care of Aika and I by herself. To start a whole new life, she decided to pack up and start over down south in the southern watertribe. We didn't notice it at the time but mom struggled to find the time to raise us and make ends meet.

Kenji's grandmother noticed her struggling and offered to babysit Aika and I in order for our mom to find time to go to work. When Aika was old enough she took it upon herself to start helping out. So while mom was at work, Aika was in charge of the house. At eight years old Aika cooked almost every one of our meals and made sure I had enough layers on to go outside. I'm thankful for my sister but I've always been concerned that I took up too much of her time. I saw the other girls her age play with each other after school but she insisted she stay with me.

If he didn't have detention, Kenji would come to our house every day to keep Aika company while she was looking after me. He'd come in lazily and follow Aika around the house telling her of his latest pranks or corny jokes. She would pretend to be annoyed by him, but her whole body perked up whenever he came in through the door. Kenji never left Aika's side, and continued to accompany her through her mundane duties.

Aika inherited the traditional water tribe features. Unlike me, she received our mother's dark chestnut colored hair. Her long glossy locks seemed to perfectly frame her heart shaped face, high cheekbones, and dark eyelashes. But I had always thought that Aika's eyes were her best feature. They were a dark blue, wide, warm and friendly.

Kenji's inherited his light skin from his earthbending grandmother. His eyes are a lighter shade of blue than Aika's, but not as light as mine. Like the other men in our tribe, his dark hair was always worn in a half up ponytail. Kenji was shorter than Aika by a couple inches and she teased him about this whenever he became too obnoxious.

Bo became friends with Aika and Kenji one day while they were at the market. Aika was buying fish for dinner from Bo's uncle and Bo strutted up to them. From then on wherever we were, Bo was there too. She was a couple years older than them, but hung out with us anyways because she said we were the only ones worth hanging out with. She liked to keep her hair at shoulder length to cut back on maintenance. She had a longer face than Aika, darker skin, and thinner lips. Her recent growth spurt had given her a gangly appearance and she towered over all of us. However, it didn't hinder her confidence and stop her from holding herself tall.

After Bo was introduced we would meet at our secret spot that Bo discovered outside the water tribe after school. Our spot was a cave that was only accessible by trekking a forgotten path down the face of a cliff. At the bottom of the path was a beach that bends around the corner. Within a five minute walk past the bend we would reach our cave tucked within the side of the cliff. The cave didn't extend far back, but had enough space for all of us to lay out. Because the mouth of the cave faced east, we were able to avoid the snow and stay cozy. It became our personal mission to make it the perfect rendezvous spot. Each of us contributed to furnishing the cave. Aika knitted blankets, Bo drew chalk murals, I brought discarded lanterns, and Kenji was even able to score a lockable chest to house all of our things in case there was a storm. After we finalized our finishing touches, the cave became our second home.

Time flew by every evening spent at the cave. We would role play adventure scenarios and take turns being either the hero, villain, sidekick or prince/princess. If we were chosen to be the hero we were expected to pick our hero's speciality or superpower. Everyone else came up with something easily, but I had trouble picking my ability. One day it was my turn to be the hero. Once again, I was indecisive and I took a long time choosing an ability. After deliberating for a couple minutes, Kenji suggested that I choose water bending.

"You know, you got pretty cool white hair," Kenji explained. "My grandfather told me the story of the northern water tribe princess that became the moon spirit. He said she had the same hair color as you. Maybe this time you could be part water spirit and be a super powerful water bender. I know you are six, but maybe you're just a late bloomer. Who knows, in real life you could actually be a water bender too." As he spoke my jaw began to tense up.

I have always been overly sensitive when people said anything about my hair. I hated how my hair made me stick out and the extra attention I received. I was tired of being ostracized and I felt betrayed by Kenji because I had trusted him to not reference my hair like everyone else.

I yelled back, "So because my hair is white I obviously have to be from the moon. If I wanted to be compared to an alien I would have hung out with the other girls." Kenji's face flushed and his eyes widened as he raised his hands in defence.

"Wait, I didn't mean that Nani," he stammered, "It was supposed to be a compliment."

In an effort to mediate the situation Aika chimed in. "Kenji didn't mean it to be hurtful. I think I can speak for all of us when I say we think your hair is beautiful. And sometimes you are pretty wierd, but you are definitely human." Aika smiled at me, but I resisted smiling back. The extra attention was beginning to make me self conscious. In an effort to hide my hair, I pulled the hood of my parka over my head. I was still upset with Kenji and I wanted more of an apology than that. Bo immediately seemed to sense my lack of confidence and yanked off my hood.

"Your hair makes you interesting," Bo interjected, "and anyone who says otherwise is just boring, jealous and insecure and needs to belittle someone to make herself feel better." She paused and leaned in to gently twist a section of my hair before continuing to say, "Since the dawn of time there has always been those types of girls. Those girls will never leave home or do anything worthwhile in their lives. Own your gorgeous head of hair and show all the other girls that they won't be able to hold you down from your own adventure, " she grinned and seemed to be satisfied with her answer. As I contemplated what she said, my jaw relaxed and my face started to soften.

"Took the words out of my mouth, thanks Bo," Kenji said as he turned to look at me, "Sorry about offending you. Please take pity on me!" he said as he theatrically dropped to his knees to bow down. I couldn't help but laugh. It was hard to stay mad at Kenji for long.

"I hereby forgive you," I said as I curtsied. He looked up at me from the ground and hopped back on his feet. He grinned and leaned in to mess up my hair.

Aika added, "If you want, I can be the hero today if you need more time to pick an ability."

Before I answered, I momentarily peered out into the ocean and glanced up at the rising moon. I brought my attention back to them and reached out for a group hug. My mom and sister had always told me that my hair was beautiful, but it wasn't until then that I actually felt like it was.

I remember thinking that the thing that had set me a part had actually given me some great friends. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all, and maybe I could even call it a blessing.

As I returned my attention back to my friends, I announced to everyone, "Its okay Aika. I know what I want to be today."

"What?" Aika asked.

"The Avatar," I confidently replied with my hands on my hips.

Bo, Kenji, and Aika exchanged approving nods with one another.

Bo winked at me, "I think that could work."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

In the last 50 years the southern water tribe was almost single handedly restored to its former glory by the former Avatar, his wife Katara, and her brother Sokka. However, compared to the other three nations and its sister tribe, the southern water tribe is still considered small. At the age of ten most children in the village undertake an apprenticeship. Because our nations have been at peace for a while, some families have chosen to send their children to the northern water tribe to receive further education at a boarding school.

Since I'd known Bo, she had been apprenticing under her uncle as a fisherman. Her apprenticeship was one of the few things that Bo remained reserved about. If anyone ever asked her about fishing, she would murmur under her breath that it was boring. She sometimes added that she didn't mind fishing all the time because it gave her a lot of free time to work on her art when the season was slow.

Kenji was the next of the group to turn ten. By the time August 20th rolled around we had orchestrated an entire surprise party for him. We planned to surprise him at the cave with his favorite meal. Kenji was a finicky eater, but could down a pot of sea prune soup in minutes.

Bo supplied the sea prunes and Aika and I cooked the soup with the help of our mom. Together we pitched in to buy new thread and fabric so that Aika could sew together a new satchel for Kenji. She even took the time to personalize the design and embroider the water tribe emblem onto his bag.

We told Kenji to meet us at the cave at three, and we ended up waiting there for hours. As the sun began to set, with no sign of Kenji, we began to pack up, doubting that he would arrive. He slumped in before we finished packing up, hands in his pockets and head hung low.

Sensing that Kenji was troubled, Aika immediately walked forward to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. He turned away from Aika, who reluctantly released her grip. We were all shocked by Kenji's uncharacteristic behavior, that none of us knew what to say. The silence was deafening and it seemed to go on forever until Kenji finally broke it.

He quickly cleared his throat, "I have something to say." Aika, Nani and I exchanged concerned glances with each other as he continued to speak. "I don't know any other way to say it but, here it goes," he paused and started rocking back and forth, "I'm being sent to the northern water tribe to attend one of their boarding schools. My dad just told me yesterday, and that's why I've been acting the way that I have. I'm sorry if I concerned you guys." Kenji refused to make eye contact with any of us and kept his gaze on the ground and his hands in his pockets.

"Ha. Ha. Funny, Kenji. This is a stupid joke," I mocked in disbelief.

"He's not kidding," Aika replied without taking her eyes off of him.

"Your sister is right, Nani," Kenji said still looking away forlorn.

Aika broke her stare and stepped back. She readjusted herself while we all waited for her answer. "We are all going to miss you," she breathed. Her face remained expressionless in an effort to maintain her composure.

"Wait, how are you not happy? How are you all not happy?" Bo said, visibly upset.

Confused, Kenji's demeanor broke and while tilting his head he asked, "What do you mean?"

Bo abruptly walked over to Kenji. She reached for his shirt and grabbed a fistful. "Do you know what I would give for my family to allow me to leave?" She released his shirt, still clearly seething.

"Because you are Sokka's grandchild you are wealthy enough to leave without having to worry about anyone depending on you," her eyes widen, "And what, you're sad? You get to leave and explore and make something of yourself."

"Cut that out Bo," Aika bitterly replied. "This is obviously hard for him, for me, and for Nani. We can explore your hangups later. Why don't you be quiet for once and just shut up right now." Until that moment, I had never seen Aika this worked up about anything before. Bo's harsh demeanor crumbled as she soaked Aika's words in.

Silence fell again while everyone paused to process the recent turn of events. After a few more moments of uncomfortable silence, Aika and Bo finally turned to look at each other. With her head down Bo apologized and said she was sorry. As quickly as the anger appeared, Aika softened.

Bo slowly walked over to Kenji and embraced him. "I'm so so sorry. I don't know what came over me... I'm going to miss you, brother." Kenji reciprocated the hug and began to cry. Before we knew it, we all ended up crying and hugging each other.

That night Kenji explained that he would be gone until he was 18 and that he had a day to pack and say goodbye before the next boat arrived. He said that he would try to come back and visit, but we all knew he was lying to soothe Aika.

"Well. As far as birthdays go, this is pretty shitty," Bo said. "But, don't you for one second think this is the end of us. No, sir." Bo smirked.

"You better write us back because I'll be writing you letters every chance I get." I chimed in. I glanced over at my sister to make sure she was taking everything okay as she tried to force herself to smile. As we were sitting I leaned up against Aika's side and put my left arm around her shoulders. _I hope Aika will be okay_.

"I'm going to miss all of you." Kenji said not taking his eyes off of Aika. He tried to contain himself, but he couldn't stop himself from checking on her.

Later we ate sea prunes, gave our presents, and stayed at the cave longer than we should have. That night we laughed and cried, and then laughed and cried some more. Bo eventually escorted me home while Aika and Kenji stayed back to hang out longer.

"Hey, Aika, we should-" I stopped mid sentence as Bo grabbed my arm.

"I think we should let them hang out," Bo whispered as she pointed towards the two. Aika and Kenji were sitting closely in the mouth of the cave together. Bo and I said our goodbyes and I promised to cover for Aika in case mom asked. I walked out of that cave with a sinking feeling in my stomach. Life seemed to always bring the unexpected. As Bo dropped me off, I gave her a longer hug than usual.

"Thanks for walking me home, " I said.

"No problem, squirt," she replied.

"I'm going to miss him,"

"Me too…" her face fell, "me too."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Aika turned ten in December and took up an apprenticeship under the local seamstress. She seemed to have a natural talent for it and came home every evening in a cheery mood. But as Aika and Bo started working full time in their apprenticeships, I was left to hang out alone. One afternoon while my sister was busy, I made a snowman behind my house to pass the time before supper.

One of the girls who was the meanest to me was named Kimi. You couldn't tell by looking at her that she was evil because on the outside she practically looked like a doll. She deceived everyone with her button nose to her dimpled cheeks, but it seemed like I was the only one who knew that on the inside, she was ugly.

Kimi and her minions managed to show up and as Kimi's crew passed me she loudly whispered to her friends, "My mom told me that her dad left and that her mom is so busy she can't properly raise her kids" Kimi paused, "I mean, who could blame him, he probably was scared off after he found out his daughter came out looking like a wolf." On cue her friends start giggling and while trying to conceal a smile Kimi turns to leer at me and lets out a final chuckle. My whole body flushed as I pretended I didn't hear, and continued to focus on building my snowman until they were out of sight. It wasn't long before the emotional floodgates opened. My face felt uncomfortably hot and my uncontrollable shaking hastily progressed until I lost my balance. I fell back against the side of my house to regain my stance and slid down against the wall to hug my knees. I rocked back and forth to console myself but I couldn't control the emotions from overwhelming me. Fat tears continued to stream down my face as I cradled myself. I had tried to keep my thoughts blank to avoid any new emotions from developing. Without warning the sky dimmed, the wind picked up and the rain started to relentlessly pour down. "Nani, honey!" my mom had poked her head out the entrance of our house, "time to get inside!" she yelled as her hair blew wildly in the wind. She quickly retreated back into the house. I stared into the sky for a moment before I extended my arms out to catch the rain when I noticed that I could still see the rain falling, but I wasn't getting wet. I realized that I had made a shelter between me and the falling rain by the motion of extending my arms and hands out. _Am I...am I water bending?_

I thrusted my hands outwards and made a sweeping motion with my arms. My protective barrier fell, but the rain around me had transformed into a floating puddle. As I waved my arms up and down in unison, the puddle of floating water followed. _I can water bend! This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me! Woohoo!_ The water fell around me and the rain continued as normal as I jumped up and kicked my feet together mid air to celebrate.

"I can beeend. Kimi caaaan't. Because she suckkkkssss," I sang loudly to myself while dancing in the rain. My celebration came to a sharp halt as my mother interrupted.

"Nani, don't make me have to come out and get you! Come inside NOW," she commanded while poking her head out the window.

"Coming!" I eagerly ran inside while smiling ear to ear. As I entered the small house I noticed Aika was home already.

"Dear, you're sopping wet-," mom said.

I had cut my mother off and excitedly asked, "You guys, guess what, guess what."

"Wha-" Aika said

Because I couldn't contain my excitement, I had also cut her off and squealed, "I AM A WATER BENDER!"

"Shut. Up." Aika replied in disbelief.

"Honey! That's great, I'm so proud of you," mom said as she walked over to embrace me.

she backed off after realizing she had gotten herself wet from hugging me. "Oh no. I forgot you were wet, go change."

I ran into the room grabbed my clothes and ran back out before changing. In order to keep talking, I stripped off my wet clothes in the living room and put on my dry ones in front of my sister and mother.

Once I came back out Aika immediately asked, "How did you figure it out? What did you do?"

"I…" I trailed off and decided against bringing up the situation with Kimi. "I was playing with the snow and didn't realize that the rain had started to come down. After mom told me to come inside, I put my hands over my head to protect myself from the rain. As I did that, the rain just stopped falling on me. And as I let my hands drop the rain dropped too," I explained while putting my legs through my pants.

In the midst of multitasking, mom made me finish putting on my clothes and ordered me to sit down on a chair so that she could brush my wet hair. "You know what this means right?" she asked mid brush.

"What? And oww,"I asked, jerking my head forward while she was still brushing my hair.

"Stop moving," mom said unfazed, "Anyways, you're going to be able to start your training as a waterbender at Katara's school. You may even end up in the military one day, not that you should be concerned since we are at peace but…" I ignored the rest of what she said as she droned on because I started to fantasize about going to the water bending academy.

The water bending academy had been founded by Katara and her husband, Avatar Aang. As one of her first initiatives, she created a water bending school for the benders of our tribe. At first her step-grandfather, Master Pakku, led the school since Katara had been traveling with her husband. A few of Master Pakku's disciples were extremely skilled in their technique and they became well known throughout the world for their water bending. Because of them, the southern water bending academy gained global recognition and now water benders from all over the world travel here to train in the south pole. Because the academy is kept relatively small, there is a extreme vetting process for foreigners. However, Katara established a rule that lets a bender forgo the vetting process if they were born in the southern water tribe. Now that her husband and step-grandfather passed away, Katara leads the academy herself with the help of a few other apprentices.

"Wow. You're so lucky. Training with Master Katara would be such an honor," Aika said.

Mom added, "Your sister is right, this is an honor. And Katara is a very sweet woman. You know, her brother's wife is the one who took care of you guys when you were younger. I want to hear that you are on your best behavior, I won't tolerate any messing around."

"Yes mom," I replied robotically.

"So today is Friday," mom thought out loud to herself, I'll let the academy know you're coming. You'll probably start training at the academy after school starting Monday."

Aika chimed in, "That's awesome, Nani! My sister will be an official bender."

I couldn't contain my grin and continued to smile from ear to ear.

"We can talk more about this over dinner. I made seaweed and pickled fish stew," mom proudly announced.

My sister and I instinctively turned to look at each other. I tried to hide my face as I scrunched up my nose and stuck out my tongue. My sister unsuccessfully held back a giggle. Our mom had just created a new recipe and had been so proud of it, that she cooked it for the fourth time that week.

"I saw that, Nani. Alright, to the dining room," mom commanded as she directed us towards the kitchen, "both of you." Aika and I burst out laughing and obeyed mom as we followed her into the kitchen.

The next day I was on my way to Aika's apprenticeship because she had forgotten her lunch. Along the way I found Kimi and her loyal minions playing with their miniature dream castle in front of an alley by our school house. Her three friends had just made an impressive four foot snow castle. As usual, Kimi had to be the queen, and by the time she was done announcing her newest royal decree, I strutted up to them with my chest up and head held high.

"What do you think you're doing here." Kimi barked. Without hesitation I looked Kimi in the eye and theatrically raised my hands in a sweeping fluid motion. I could feel the energy moving through my entire body as I bended their castle into floating water. I stepped back with my arms following behind me and quickly snapped my arms back outwards as I directed the water towards Kimi. The water had followed my motions and snapped forward. The other three girls had barely gotten out of the way, but Kimi didn't have enough time to avoid the splash. She stood in shock, drenched from head to toe.

"Wait until I tell my mom! You crazy, stupid, freak-" Kimi shrieked.

"No. You're not," I raised my arms again and all the snow behind me had risen into a giant wall of water. I continued, "You won't tell on me and you won't ever make fun of me again" I paused, "and, don't ever talk about my mom again." I kept my cool gaze steady over Kimi. Her friends had already run away, leaving Kimi alone. Her eyes widened in fear as she stepped back. Realizing she was suddenly by herself, without another word, she turned around and sprinted away as fast as she could. As her figure disappeared into the distance, I let my arms fall and the water drop behind me. I checked my surroundings to make sure no one had seen what had happened. After making sure no one was around, I bent down and slowly picked up my sister's lunch. _It was such a nice day for a long walk,_ I thought. I instinctively added a bounce to my step as I walked away.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Children under ten typically attend the water bending academy in the evenings after school. Before my first day of training, my mind was solely preoccupied with water bending. Whatever lesson we learned in school that day, had completely gone over my head. My heart pounded at the thought of getting trained by Master Katara. _What if I suck? Six is late for someone to start bending. I'm already behind…  
_ Right as Ms. Marikawa dismissed class, I bolted out of my seat to be the first one out the door. To my surprise, my mom was waiting for me across the street. I took a second to admire my mother from afar in her nurses uniform. As usual, her hair was thrown into a messy ponytail in a lazy effort to tame her wild hair. Since she typically runs late for work, she usually doesn't put too much effort into her appearance. Her uniform sat baggy over her petite frame and like me, her face is lightly dusted with freckles. The older I became the more I noticed the wrinkles around her eyes and the smile lines beginning to peek through. Her long hours at work had calloused her hands and left her in a seemingly perpetual state of exhaustion. Regardless, her eyes still gleamed, and she continued to possess a kind and gentle inner beauty. Whenever Aika and I asked about work, her whole body would light up. My mom thoroughly enjoyed her job and was proud to have helped deliver so many babies. To me, the aging had only matured her beauty and showed how much she accomplished.  
I rushed over to my mom and hugged her hello while quickly glancing around. I had secretly hoped that my peers had seen my mom pick me up. After years of walking home alone or with Aika, my mom had finally come to pick me up and I wanted to showcase it.  
"Hey honey, I'm going to walk you to your first day of training to make sure everything transitions smoothly. Sorry I didn't tell you, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to take off of for sure until an hour ago. " she explained.  
I beamed back at her, "That's okay mom. I'm really glad you're here, I'm nervous."  
As we began walking I confessed, "Everyone my age will already be ahead of me. They probably all made friends with each other already too…" My confidence began to wither with every step towards the academy.  
"Can I tell you a secret?" mom asked.  
"What?"  
"When I moved to the south pole I was really scared. I asked myself the same questions, like, 'what if I don't make friends?' or, 'what if I'm not a good enough to be a nurse?'" she stopped walking and knelt down to meet me at eye level. "It was scary, and even a little uncomfortable at first. But when I put myself out there, I came to love it here. What I am trying to say is that great things happen when you are a little scared. You just need to believe in yourself and work hard. And making friends will come naturally if you be yourself. That's all anyone can really ask for." Her words and warm smile soothed me, and I suddenly began to feel the nerves ease off. I took a deep breath in and slowly let out an exhale.  
"Feel better?" she asked.  
"Yes, I do," I smiled. "Thanks, mom."  
"Let's try to get your mind off of it. So, what did you learn at school today?"  
I paused to try to recall our lesson today but came to a blank, "Um. Well...you know. Same stuff as always…." I said while trying to avoid eye contact.  
The academy sat along the left-hand side of the village border. Ornamented and tall courtyard walls made out of snow and ice surrounded the academy. Two enormous statues, one of avatar Aang and one of his brother in law, Sokka, greeted guests on both sides of the gate. A broad shouldered, middle aged looking man stood guard at the entrance and waited for us to introduce ourselves.  
"Hi, I'm Ms. Kekoa. This is my daughter, Nani Kekoa," she announced as she put a hand on my shoulder. "My daughter is registered to start training." The guard silently scanned his scroll for my name. After studying it for several moments he eventually found it and smiled.  
"Ah, it says you're a new student! You can call me Shin. Honored to meet you," he bowed. He then blew on the shell that was dangling from his necklace, which made a deep pitched horn sound. Shortly after, the gates slowly started to crank open.  
After walking in, I first noticed the large pagoda styled house that sat in the middle of a lake. It was located towards the back of the courtyard and seemed to be accessible by bridge. To the upper left corner of the courtyard was a smaller and fenced off traditional styled house. A cherry blossom tree stood next to the small house, and its pink flowers vibrantly contrasted against the fallen snow. Along the right side of the courtyard was a long dorm like looking structure that spanned several stories high. And along the left side of the courtyard were groups of benders training in a large sectioned off areas. I recognized the younger students from the village, but it surprised me to see how many of the students I didn't recognize. _Wow, there are more abroad students than I thought._  
"If you walk straight down the path, you'll reach the main building that's in the middle of the lake. Someone in there should direct you both further," explained Shin. I caught him taking a peek at my mom's neck. It was uncommon for a woman my mom's age to not wear a betrothal necklace. "And, uh," he stuttered, "let me know if you need help finding anything Ms. Kekoa. I'll be right here." He rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously. My mom flashed him a friendly smile as we continued on our way.  
"Good one Shin!" we heard a guard distantly yell in the background as we walked away.  
"Rejected!" mocked another. As I started to laugh my mom shushed me, but I could tell she was trying to hold back a laugh herself.

Katara came into view as we approached the main buildings entrance. Katara was a sweet looking older woman. She was slightly hunched over, her hair had greyed, but her eyes remained as sharp as ever. Her reputation, wisdom, and her association with the former avatar made it an honor to be in her presence. She was standing on top of the main buildings porch and looked as if she was in the midst of a serious discussion with the other trainers. One of the trainers in the group noticed my mom and me and brought us to Katara's attention.  
"Hello Tiare, it's good to see you. Is your daughter starting training today?" Katara asked, turning away from the group.  
Before mom had a chance to speak I interrupted, "Yes, I am," I said. Katara looked amused.  
"Honor to finally meet you," she bowed, "heard great things about you from my nephew."  
To show respect, I exaggerated my bow in order to bow lower than her.  
"You can go ahead Tiare. I will see that Nani will be taken care of," said Katara. Mom kneeled down to hug me goodbye.  
"Believe in yourself," she whispered in my ear and then leaned in to kiss my forehead. After mom left, I was alone with Katara and her small group of trainers. Katara then motioned for one of the trainers to step forward. The trainer seemed to be in her early 20's, had a round face, flat nose, and long black hair that reached to the back of her legs. The left side of her head was partly shaved, which revealed the multiple piercings she had along her left ear.  
"Riki, could you take her to the area where the six-year olds are practicing? I believe Kasem is charge of that group," requested Katara.  
"Of course," responded Riki while turning to me. "Hi! I'm Riki. Aren't you a cutie. I love the hair." she outstretched her arm to shake my hand. Her cheerful disposition had caught me off guard. I felt a tinge of guilt because based off of her strange appearance, I had expected her to not act as friendly. "Follow me." Riki instructed as she glided away.  
We walked back towards the training area and met up with a group of six-year old's in the midst of a lesson. The trainer I assumed to be Kasem was a young man and had a slightly stocky build. He had a mop of curly brown hair and pronounced cheek dimples that showed up even while talking. As we arrived, Riki loudly announced, "Hey, K. We got a new one for ya." Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing to face us. Riki stopped walking and continued, "Her name is…" expecting me to finish. I was suddenly aware that I could feel everyone watching me. My hands began to sweat, and my breathing quickened.  
"My name is…" I panicked and drew a blank. Right then I remembered my mom's advice to believe in myself and mustered up the courage to continue "My name is Nani Kekoa." _Whew, that was way too hard._ Before anyone had the chance to speak Riki interrupted, "So, I'm going to head back unless you need something."  
"Go ahead. You should stop by more often though. You could learn a thing or two from my students," Kasem said with a playful smile, arms crossed while leaning back. After Riki left, Kasem instructed the students to carry on with their lesson while he assessed me.  
"Can you show me what you know already?" I nodded as I searched for a water source.  
Kasem caught me looking lost, "See those giant pots? Those contain the water we practice with. Also, see the white lines on the ground? Those are our boundaries. Throw what you got at me and try not to get the eight-year old's next to us wet." I quickly glanced over at the eight-year old's and then back to the students in my age group. I was relieved to find that they seemed to be fully concentrated on their training and not on me.  
"You want me to hit...you?" I asked for clarification.  
He smirked, "If you can."  
I happily accepted the challenge and began to relax my body as I gauged our space. I steadied my body and began to focus on the water inside a single pot. I began by throwing my arms back and eventually thrusted them forward. The water mimicked my motion and thrusted forward like a whip. As if he anticipated this, he casually stepped out of the way before the water hit him. He bended the fallen water back into the pot and waited for me to continue. _What else can I do?_ Then an idea came to me.  
I concentrated on bending the water to rise in the air. As I felt the energy flowing through me, I harnessed it to manipulate the water into floating spears of ice. During this transition, I aimed the ice spears at Kasem and flung them forward with a sharp sweeping motion. While the spears were hurtling towards him, he manipulated the water from several of the pots behind him to act as a giant ice shield. After the spears collided with his shield, he morphed all the ice back into water and bended the water back into their pots.  
"Has anyone ever taught you that before?" he asked.  
"No, I guess I just figured that out."  
"Phase changing water into ice is a complex skill. I think you'll catch up with the rest of the students in no time."  
Before I arrived, Kasem had been in the middle of teaching a lesson about maintaining control and flow. He had the students practice a technique called, "streaming the water". This technique required a bender to seamlessly bend a continuous stream of water around their body. Before throwing me into the group, Kasem quickly taught me the bending movements. He lightly swung his arms side to side as he alternated raising each knee to his waist and kept on repeating this dance. Effortlessly, he managed to bend a massive river of water to continually flow around his body. He bended water unlike anyone I had ever seen before and was surprisingly graceful for someone who was as stocky as he was.  
When it was my turn to try, I started off only using the water from a single pot. It soon became clear that I was not able to exert the same amount of control as Kasem. Even though I was fully concentrated on my movements, the water didn't seem to comply. At some point I would lose my grasp and the water would eventually spill on the ground. I became increasingly frustrated with myself. One minute I was able to change water into ice and the next the minute, I'm not even able to perform a basic maneuver. _I was just lucky before. I probably suck, I won't ever be as good as everyone else._ As I was taking a break, one of the six-year-old girls approached me with a friend.  
"Hey, what's your name?" asked the girl. Although her friend wore the water tribes typical blue clothing, this girl wore a light green romper indicating that she was from the earth kingdom. Her bangs laid straight across her forehead and had the rest of her hair pulled into two buns. She was also missing a couple of teeth and her eyes were black as night. Unlike the people from our tribe, she had extremely fair skin and light auburn hair.  
"My name is Nani. How about you?"  
"I'm Malia, this is my friend, Ocean," Ocean waved enthusiastically back at me. "Yay new person! Are you from here?" Ocean squealed. Next to Malia, Ocean looked shorter than she actually was. While Malia was fair, Ocean had a very dark complexion and was also noticeably overweight.  
"Yeah, I live past the market and the school. And you guys?"  
"I'm from the northern water tribe," stated Ocean.  
"I'm from the swamps in the southeastern part of the earth kingdom," explained Malia as she showed off her green clothing.  
"Oh my gosh, your hair!" Ocean eyes widened as she looked at me, "You look exactly like the moon princess. There's a statue of her in our tribe. And you're so small and cute, I wish I was as small as you."  
I began fumbling with my hair, "Thank you," I stammered. I wasn't used to girls my age being so friendly and the compliment felt nice.  
"Hey, you need to relax by the way," said Malia. "You are trying to move the water than trying to move _with_ the water. Master Kasem always says to act as if the water is an extension of yourself," she explained while trying to show me. She danced back and forth while closing her eyes. Like Kasem, the water effortlessly followed her movements.  
"How did you do that without even looking?" I asked.  
Malia bended the water back into a pot and turned to face me with her shoulders shrugged, "I dunno. I just felt it."  
"Just try not think too hard and allow the water to move with you," chimed Ocean. "Try again, and we'll help if you need it."  
I nodded and focused my energy once again. This time I closed my eyes while performing my dance. Instead of forcing the energy, I tried to have the energy flow through me. To my delight as I opened my eyes, I realized I was performing the technique. I also realized that I was streaming more water than I thought. The size of my stream was almost as large as Master Kasem's. Malia and Ocean both looked at each other and then at me with their mouths agape. Malia started clapping. "Well, you didn't need our help!" she happily stated.  
At the end of the day, Kasem instructed all five of the students to sit in a circle while he summarized today's lesson and instructed what we each needed to work on. After we said our goodbyes, Kasem prompted me to wait. After everyone left he ended up walking me over to the fenced off house with the cherry blossom tree. Katara was maintaining the Zen garden behind the house before she recognized us.  
"Everything go well today?" she asked Kasem.  
"It's great, everyone is learning really fast," he said and shot me a smile. I proudly beamed back at Kasem and then to Katara.  
"Nani, would you come with Kasem and me inside? We ask every new student to pick out a couple of toys," Katara asked without any further explanation. Most of my toys I played with were hand me downs that I had to share with my sister. It was exciting to think that I was getting toys of my own.  
"Sure!" I agreed.  
The entrance to the house was a sliding wooden paneled wall covered with translucent paper, which opened up to a large living room. I stood for a second in awe because I had never been in a house that looked as regal as this one. Rare artifacts, swords, armor, and scrolls were tastefully displayed. However, the hung-up pictures of the avatar Aang, Katara and their children was what caught my attention. Tatami straw mats lined the floor and a chabudai table with short legs sat in the middle of the living room. On top of the table sat a pile of a hundred or so toys messily stacked upon each other. Katara instructed me to have a seat on top of one of the zabuton pillows that laid around the table.  
"I'll be making tea in the kitchen. Before I leave I ask that you choose four and only four toys. Let Kasem know when you are done," she informed me as she left. Kasem begun reading a newspaper that had been sitting on the counter by the entrance as I sifted through the large pile. After a good ten minutes of deliberation, I finally chose a wooden kadama with a bright red ball, a paper kite with an egret painted on the wings, an extremely large spinning top, and a doll in a long blue dress made up of cloth and yarn. After playing with each toy for a while Katara eventually back into the room with tea. Before pouring each of us a cup she paused to inspect my choices. Katara sat the kettle on a nearby table and placed a hand on my shoulder. I wasn't sure what was happening, but Kasem and Katara silently shot each other a look that I didn't understand. Within seconds they settled back into their usual selves. Kasem held out his hands to imply that I hand over the toys.  
"I'm sorry to tell you that you won't be able to take these toys home with you today. We need each one to help us better understand our new students and their bending. I'm sorry we didn't tell you before, but we didn't want anything to influence your decision." said Kasem.  
I looked longingly at my toys for a moment before handing them over. "It's okay," I replied disheartened. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I had a feeling that they weren't going to reveal anything to me.  
"However, I do have something else for you," said Katara as she reached into her pocket. She pulled out a small wooden box engraved with a carving of our nations emblem. "I just went up to the north pole to visit Kenji at school. One of the first things we did is go to the market and buy you and your sister a gift." She opened the box and revealed a small pair of pearl earrings. I had almost forgotten how thoughtful Kenji was when he wasn't joking around. Thinking about Kenji suddenly brought back old memories and the feelings I had when he left.  
I took off my old pair of studs and put on my pearls in front of the large circular mirror that hung on the wall. I pulled my thick head of hair back into a ponytail to show off my earrings. Like my mom, my hair was slightly wavy and some days it had a mind of its own. Today my hair was compliant and thankfully settled neatly into a ponytail. In the mirror I noticed that I looked more like Aika with my hair up. With my hair out of focus my facial features stood out and it was easier to spot the similarities between my sister and I. Aika and I shared the same heart shape face and almond shaped eyes. However, I also noticed how much lighter my skin and eyes were than hers. Unlike Aika, my eyes were more turquoise, and my nose and cheekbones were rounder.  
The room fell silent while Katara and Kasem admired me. Embarrassed, I bashfully smiled at them while crossing my arms not knowing what to say. Katara broke away from formality and unexpectantly leaned in for a hug. I let my arms unfold and wrap around Katara and head dig into her side. Her hug was longer and tighter than I expected it to be. She eventually stood back and put both hands on my shoulders while maintaining eye contact.

She held a soft smile as her eyes begun watering. "I missed you," she said while still holding my shoulders. Kasem came up behind her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Katara released me and held Kasem's hand on her shoulder for a moment before regaining her composure. She then straightened back up and wiped her eyes.

She stood straight up and cleared her throat, "I'm sorry, Nani. You just remind me of someone I once knew," she started to relax again, "The earrings look beautiful on you. My nephew has good taste." Kasem nodded in agreement.

I was still trying to process the encounter I had with Katara and started fidgeting with my earrings. "Thank you for delivering them," I replied. I wanted more of an explanation of what was happening but was too shy to ask.

"I'll walk you to the gate Nani. Better get home in time for dinner," Kasem added. Before leaving Katara gave me a present and letter from Kenji to give to my sister. Once I got home I found mom busy making dinner in the kitchen and Aika in the living room finishing up a project she had been working on at her apprenticeship.  
"Hey! How was it?" asked Aika. She sat aside the clothes she was working on and reached out to touch my ears. "Whoa, where did you get these?" Before replying, I handed her a small wrapped box and a letter.  
"These are from Kenji." Aika grinned from ear to ear upon receiving the gift. "And my earrings are from him too. Anyways, training was great, I think I did really well. At first I-" I stopped when I realized she wasn't paying attention to me. She had been carefully reading his letter and had begun opening his present.  
Kenji had gotten her a leather bracelet that had an oval shaped dark blue gem woven into the face. Inside the band had something written, but she had refused to read it aloud to me. _Kenji had gotten her the bracelet because it matched her eyes._ I began to play with the ends of my hair before I came to a realization. _He also bought the pearl earrings because it matched my hair.  
_ I could barely hear her, but under her breath she let out, "I really miss him…" They had been writing letters to each other ever since he left. When Aika was home, I sometimes would even catch her glancing at the door expecting Kenji to waltz in. At dinner I unloaded every detail of my day to my mom and sister. However, I didn't tell them about the Katara's hug because I didn't think she would have wanted me to have share that. Mom was intent on listening and asking questions, but my sister's mind seemed to be elsewhere.

In the middle of the night my sister had snuck out of the room we shared. I laid awake in bed thinking about today's events and decided against following her. _Why did Katara suddenly become sad, and how come I wasn't able to keep the toys?_ A bunch of scenarios ran through my head, but I couldn't come up with a good answer, so I thought about training instead. Not only had I been able to keep up with the other students, I think I even managed to make some friends. _Maybe I'll finally fit in_. I turned over on my side and hugged my legs to my chest. That night the light from the full moon seemed to shine brighter than usual. I don't know why, but I took a moment to thank the moon spirit. _I don't know you, and I'm not even sure you exist but if you are out there please watch over me._ I was content with my prayer and let my mind relax. The events of that day had finally caught up to me and before I knew it I drifted off to sleep.


End file.
